Diageo’s in the bottle for C&C

Cider maker in talks with drinks giant over allowing the bottling of beers at Clonmel plant which has spare capacity due to mothballing of certain lines

B
ulmers and Magners cider maker C&C is in talks with Diageo and Heineken
to take over the bottling of some their beers at its plant in Clonmel,
according to a number of sources within the drinks industry. An announcement
is expected early in the new year.

C&C’s management team, led by chief executive John Dunsmore, was
unavailable for comment.

Diageo did not comment on ongoing talks regarding future bottling contracts,
but said: “On occasion and intermittently we use C&C for bottling
when we are at full capacity and need them for the overflow of our orders.”
Heineken was unavailable for comment.

C&C’s Clonmel plant has a huge amount of spare capacity, with a number of
production lines currently mothballed.

The company’s previous management team, led by Maurice Pratt, spent €200m to
double capacity in 2007 just before a collapse in Magners sales in Britain.
Pratt, who resigned in 2008 after